Corporate counsel must be more than simply attuned with company systems, but be experts in them. They can help enable systems across organizations and ensure these systems are integrated, updated, and refined. They're well positioned to mobilize these business processes because they serve in a variety of functions touching many groups. Since systems help establish a degree of uniformity and more potential certainty in outcomes/management of risk, they also have great incentive to do so to be successful in their roles. Technology, sometimes seen as a foe, can also be a major ally in gathering and connecting data, which equates to more control — and restful nights for corporate counsel.

Inarguably, Jack Welch propelled General Electric to new levels of success during his tenure as CEO. Welch leveraged processes to create this success. He also tried to create what he called a “boundaryless organization.” Welch knew free-flowing communications and supporting processes would accelerate opportunity and growth, and he also had the foresight to understand the ever-increasing importance in the evolving corporate world. In an article in the Harvard Business Review, Ron Ashkenas, consultant and author, argued Welch was one of the first to appreciate how technology and globalization would have an enormous impact on how businesses function. Welch realized that in order to succeed, companies would need to collaborate and share information on a scale and scope never imagined before. He knew today was coming — a day in which businesses span the globe connected by a web of technology with the ever-pressing need to gather more and better data, create actionable business intelligence, and drive and monitor results.

In-house counsel regularly talk about the processes, procedures, and organizational hurdles to working through and finalizing transactions. It's true that these processes and procedures can feel like necessary evils at certain times since they require coordination and time. Two groups may be required to work side-by-side to finalize a project, but they could be operating out of different locations, using different databases, and approaching the task in a completely incongruent manner and without good communication. It's no secret they, as lawyers, are often perceived as slowing things down if they're not efficiently interacting with a process or driving it forward. In today's world, technology is required to keep with the pace, so they as lawyers must lead organizations in harnessing these tools.

Don't fight alone

If you're working in a business that maintains siloed units and fragmented processes, you're not alone, most do. Luckily, today they have more advanced technology tools to help us break barriers and empotheyr processes — you're not alone in the fight. As legal teams, they must understand the tools being used within our organization so they can monitor each tool for unique risks, quickly identify trouble spots, glean insights, and manage processes. Integrated systems mean that they can now break down boundaries and enable technology to gather more immediate and direct input from stakeholders. It also means more real-time visibility into business and an enhanced ability to control functions and propel outcomes.

Employees without boundaries: Going self-service

To go back to Jack Welch, he elaborated on “boundaryless companies” and described them as those removing the barriers between traditional functions, and finding great ideas, anywhere within an organization, or from outside the organization, and then sharing them with everyone in the company. Today, companies subscribing to this ideology are looking to technological solutions – including self-service tools. Companies have self-service portals for managing customer relationships and sales information allowing for input from different stakeholders and more visibility into the customer relationship and control over the lifecycle. These technologies help paint a more robust picture of prospects and customers leveraging different sets of eyes, ears, and skills. Companies also have many other solutions in or similar to the self-service genre. These technologies are being adopted as successful business tools because of the ability to empower stakeholders, eliminate silos, and sift the best information even within the most complex organizations. In turn, this data drives positive results for the business.

Since I work for a SaaS provider, I'm very familiar with the somewhat germinal concept of self-service contracting. Self-service contracting gives employees the tools to initiate contracts with pre-approved language and to provide input on necessary areas, while still giving senior executives and legal teams the control they need to provide employees only with an appropriate level of information and authority, and to efficiently review and validate these contracts as normal. Self-service contracting is an example of a tool that can help break down silos and systemize a process (contracting) while allowing for more direct and immediate interaction from a variety of groups to encourage the best information to come forward.

Corporate counsel across nearly every industry need to understand the benefits and risks to these types of tools, and be prepared to leverage them as part of standard processes and procedures in this current age and beyond.

Self-service, not alone

Self-service doesn't mean working in a vacuum. To the contrary, it can lead to more cohesive processes and procedures. Self-service contract lifecycle management can maintain the security legal departments demand, while also giving other members of the business team the tools needed to help move business quickly. Many technologies enable companies to reap incentives through increased visibility while also protecting against risk — contract management technologies are just one example. We live in a dynamic technological age and it's always interesting to see how certain technology tools become more widely adopted as an integral part of business process.

Similar to the increased level of Six Sigma adoption after Welch made the existing concept popular during his tenure at GE, we're likely to see widespread adoption of certain technologies in the next few years. Only time will tell which technologies become standard, but the race has certainly begun, and my bet is that broader enablement is here to stay.

Amalia Rosen is a Vice President of the Determine Brand and a member of IACCM. Her unique perspective on contract management and its evolution is based on her years of experience at Determine precursor, Selectica. Amalia has been listening to customers and sharing best practices that enable organizations and professionals to achieve business value in their contracting and business process skills. Enterprises today realize the critical role of contract management in transforming relationships into practical and collaborative business drivers that impact the global economy.